The Smoky Mountain Railroad was a
standard gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...
class-III
shortline that operated from
Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...
, to
Sevierville, Tennessee
Sevierville ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Sevier County, Tennessee, located in eastern Tennessee. The population was 17,889 at the 2020 United States Census.
History
Native Americans of the Woodland period were among the first human ...
, from 1909 until 1961.
History
The railroad was established by Knoxville contractor
William J. Oliver, and was originally named the Knoxville, Sevierville and Eastern Railway.
[William Robert Rogers, "A History of the Smoky Mountain Railroad," East Tennessee Historical Society ''Publications'', Vol. 44 (1972), pp. 72-75.] It was incorporated on July 15, 1907, and construction started in 1908. The first segment was opened between Vestal in
South Knoxville
South Knoxville is the section of Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, that lies south of the Tennessee River. It is concentrated along Chapman Highway (US 441), Alcoa Highway (US 129), Maryville Pike ( SR 33), Sevierville Pike, and adjacent roads ...
and Sevierville on December 20, 1909, bringing the line's total length to 27.8 miles. The line connected with the
Southern Railway at Knoxville. In July 1921, the bank foreclosed on the railroad and later sold it for $50,000 to L.C. Gunter on November 1, 1921. The line was then re-organized as the Knoxville & Carolina Railroad Company. The railroad was sold again at auction for $50,000 on May 1, 1926, but since the new owner intended to disband the company and sell off the assets, the sale was delayed. It was eventually purchased by the
Tennessee and North Carolina Railroad and re-named the Smoky Mountain Railroad.
At the end of 1937, the T&NC sold their shares of the Smoky Mountain Railroad to Midwest Steel, a company that dealt in scrap iron. On April 11, 1938, the owners of the railroad applied for abandonment but the application was denied. The railroad changed ownership numerous times over years, as the line was never profitable and struggled to stay afloat with as few as 300 carloads of freight being shipped out of Sevierville annually, a volume of freight so low as to preclude profitable freight operations. The railroad's low speed (usually limited to 25 mph/40 kmph due to track conditions) made passenger service unprofitable once automobile ownership became widespread in the area, even though a custom self-propelled motorcar had been purchased in October 1922, for the then-huge sum of $16,000, and was used to make three daily runs between Sevierville and Knoxville.
[Sulzer, Elmer G., ''Ghost Railroads of Tennessee'', Indiana University Press, 1998, , p. 22]
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
brought about the only notable period of profitability for the railroad, as the
Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolina ...
initiated construction of
Douglas Dam
Douglas Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the French Broad River in Sevier County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The dam is operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), which built the dam in record time in the early 1940s to me ...
on the
French Broad River
The French Broad River is a river in the U.S. states of North Carolina and Tennessee. It flows from near the town of Rosman in Transylvania County, North Carolina, into Tennessee, where its confluence with the Holston River at Knoxville forms ...
a few miles north of Sevierville. A
branch line
A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line.
Industrial spur
An industri ...
was constructed from Sevierville to the dam site, and the Smoky Mountain Railroad hauled in most of the equipment and materials needed to construct the dam.
Once the dam was complete the railroad began to struggle anew, and by 1946 the line was again losing large sums of money. The stockholders of the railroad applied for abandonment in 1947, but the
Interstate Commerce Commission
The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later trucking) to ensure fair rates, to eliminat ...
denied the request. In 1951, passenger services ended. The railroad ended steam operations on December 9, 1954, with 1911 Baldwin 4-6-2 #110 (former
Little River Railroad #110) pulling the last steam-powered train. This was due to the Southern Railway (on which the SMRR relied on for maintenance of their steam locomotives) ending all steam operations and subsequently dismantling their steam shops in Knoxville. The railroad then used a GE 44 ton diesel for motive power. The railroad continued to operate until January 16, 1961, when operations were suspended due to poor track conditions. In May 1964, the ICC finally approved a request for abandonment.
[Smoky Mountain Railway](_blank)
/ref>
In 1966, the track was taken up. The railroad is now completely gone. Several of the Smoky Mountain Railroad's former locomotives are still in existence. In 1961 steam locomotives
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
#107, a 2-8-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels. ...
; and #206, a 2-6-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. ...
; were sold to "Rebel Railroad", a narrow gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...
tourist train line built at nearby Pigeon Forge
Pigeon Forge is a mountain resort city in Sevier County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 6,343. Situated just 5 miles (8 km) north of Great Smoky Mountains National Par ...
for static display. Rebel Railroad changed ownership over the years and is today part of the Dollywood
Dollywood is a theme park jointly owned by entertainer Dolly Parton and Herschend Family Entertainment. It is located in the Knoxville metropolitan area in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, near the gateway to The Great Smoky Mountains. Hosting nearly 3 ...
theme park. #107 is still displayed at the entrance to Dollywood, however #206 was sold to the "Chattanooga Choo-Choo Hotel" in Chattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...
, in the early 1970s.
4-6-2
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and two trailing wheels on one axle. The locomotiv ...
#110, originally built for the Little River Railroad, is now at Coldwater, Michigan
Coldwater is a city in Branch County, Michigan, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 10,945. It is the county seat of Branch County, located in the center of the southern border of Michigan. The city is surrounded by Co ...
, operating on a tourist railroad.Steam Locomotive Information
/ref>
Locomotives
Locomotives owned by the railroad
Locomotive Leased by the railroad.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smoky Mountain Railroad
Transportation in Sevier County, Tennessee
Transportation in Knox County, Tennessee
Defunct Tennessee railroads
External links
HawkinsRails' Smoky Mountain page